Ainsley Harriott’s Food Range

This week we have been sitting down to some delicious meals, with very little preparation, courtesy of Ainsley Harriott. And no, sadly he wasn’t in my kitchen preparing our dinner every evening (though Ainsley if you ever read this and fancy popping over, I wouldn’t say no!). No, we have been trying out his range of food products and very yummy they have been too. Last nights, Lentil Dahl was perhaps my favourite which I served with some prawns, although his couscous range is also very lovely. Our Little Garden Helpers aren’t so keen on spicy flavours so we don’t add spice to our meals very often. Ainsley has given us this opportunity, as it is no hassle to add water to his flavoured cous cous in one bowl and to some plain cous cous in another. It doesn’t feel like we are making two entirely seperate meals.

Most of the packets serve two as an accompaniment to chicken, prawns or whatever takes your fancy, so I think ‘family value’ packs would be a really good idea to make them more appealing to families but, while our little ones are toddlers, we can just about get away with serving them a portion up as well as us and only opening one packet; if we add enough extras.

Now, we do like to cook from fresh in our house, using the vegetables from our garden, but there are occassions when there is just not enough time in the day to cook from scratch – too many distractions in the form of glue and googlie eyes, muddy puddles or the lure of a fun day out. I always try to have something quick in my cupboards for these days and Ainsley Harriott’s range will definately feature there in the future. There is a fabulous range, from risotto’s and cous cous to world kitchen dinner kits and less common grains such as spelt and bulgar wheat. They are quick and easy to cook and taste delicous. What more could we ask for?